Walnut Grove Police Chief David Graham submitted his resignation and gave a 30-day notice to the Walnut Grove City Council at its July 21 meeting after serving since late 2023.
While he felt at home in Walnut Grove, Graham said small-town politics eventually got the best of him.
“You always expect small-town politics and things like that, but it goes to an extreme here,” Graham said. “Things I’ve had to deal with have put a sour taste in my mouth right now.”
One of Graham’s biggest obstacles in Walnut Grove, he said, was the lack of help. He said even in a small town, being on-call all the time was too much to bear.
GRAHAM
“Granted, Walnut Grove doesn’t have a large call volume, but there’s no way one person can cover 24/7, 365,” he said. “I was getting called out all the time, even when I was off work, at home after my shifts.”
Graham said his efforts to convince the City to hire another officer were unsuccessful.
“They don’t realize that one person can’t handle all those hours,” he said.
Graham is aware of other similarsized towns that opt to either hire multiple officers or contract with the county for assistance. Walnut Grove does not have a contract with Redwood County for such support.
“Even in Walnut Grove, you need two part-timers, or you need the county to be able to cover,” he said. “Otherwise, your one officer is always on call. Even when you go vacation, if the county answers a call for you, they hand it off to you when you get back. Then you have all that work that you have to catch up on.”
Graham, who arrived in Walnut Grove in 2023 after five years as chief in Galena, AK, got the speed limit in town lowered to 20 mph and was behind getting new stop signs installed at intersections as well. He also was behind the city’s first “Christmas in the Park” last winter. He has no ill will toward Walnut Grove as a whole and has nothing but good things to say about its residents.
“Even the kids, they’re so respectful and happy to see you,” he said. “The community itself has been very welcoming. There are not really a lot of problems in Walnut Grove. Most of the people have been very welcoming.”
Graham said he will take some time off before deciding whether or not to pursue another job in law enforcement. However, after 29-1/2 years on the beat, he isn’t sure if he wants to take on another similar responsibility.
Walnut Grove councilman Yeng Yang said the options for replacing Graham, including possibly contracting with Redwood County, will be discussed at the Aug. 11 city council meeting. He believes the town is not big enough to justify two officers.
“Personally, my opinion is that we don’t require two,” he said. “The crime rate and the population here are pretty small.”
Yang said he was not aware of issues between Graham and the City.
“I wasn’t involved as much as somebody else would be,” he said. “Even if he told me a story, I wouldn’t know the backstory behind it.”
Yang added that Graham served Walnut Grove well during his short time there.
“I think he did a good job patrolling the area,” he said. “He took the initiative to put up some Christmas lights in the park — that was a great initiative by Dave. He came in an implemented the new speed limit, which was great.”
Graham’s contract would’ve been up on Oct. 11. His last day is Aug. 20.
